Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3: Omar Vizquel's second sacrifice fly plated Rajai Davis to snap a tie in the ninth inning as visiting Toronto completed a three-game sweep of Boston in a battle of American League East cellar dwellers.
Jeff Mathis and Adeiny Hechavarria had RBI singles during a three-run fourth inning for the Blue Jays, who have recorded six straight victories at Fenway Park for the first time since 1989.
With the game tied at 3-3 in the ninth inning, Boston manager Bobby Valentine took a trip to the mound but elected to keep starter Clay Buchholz (11-6) in the game. Anthony Gose stole second to put runners in scoring position, prompting the Red Sox to intentionally walk Kelly Johnson to load the bases.
Vizquel lifted a lazy fly ball to left field which was deep enough to score the speedy Davis to give Toronto the lead.
Former Boston right-hander Brandon Lyon (2-2) retired the lone batter he faced in the eighth inning to pick up the win. Casey Janssen allowed a leadoff single to James Loney before getting the final three outs for his 20th save.
Jacoby Ellsbury belted a two-run homer and Dustin Pedroia added his 14th blast for the Red Sox, who have dropped four in a row and 11 of 12 to plummet to the bottom of the division.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Buchholz saw his six-game winning streak against Toronto come to an end. He owns an 8-4 career mark versus the Blue Jays. ... Toronto will open a three-game series against visiting Seattle on Tuesday. ... While out of the postseason picture, Boston will look to take some of the steam out of the New York Yankees when the three-game series begins on Tuesday.
Toronto | Boston | |
Carlos Villanueva | Player | Clay Buchholz |
No Decision | W/L | Loss |
6.0 | IP | 8.2 |
2 | Strikeouts | 4 |
7 | Hits | 7 |
4.50 | ERA | 4.15 |
Toronto | Boston | |
Rajai Davis | Player | Cody Ross |
2 | Hits | 2 |
0 | RBI | 0 |
0 | HR | 0 |
2 | TB | 3 |
.667 | Avg | .667 |